


Ice Cream Tastes Better Than Caviar

by daisy_is_always_cold



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-01-25
Packaged: 2019-10-15 19:42:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17535005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisy_is_always_cold/pseuds/daisy_is_always_cold
Summary: Peter Parker attends a Stark Party and meets Shuri, the princess of Wakanda. She convinces him to ditch the party in favor of an ice cream shop.





	Ice Cream Tastes Better Than Caviar

There was only an hour left until the giant party, or should I say gala, Tony was hosting. It was the first party that Peter would be attending, seeing as it was more of a Stark Industries party than an Avengers thing, though they would be attending. The Wakandan royal family would also be in attendance. Simply put, it was a huge deal, and Peter couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. Tony had sent someone to drop off the tux he was supposed to wear not long ago and Peter was staring at the ensemble. It was simple, just like Tony knew Peter would want. Peter had never worn a tux before so this was definitely a new experience. He slid into the tux, staring at himself in the mirror before ultimately deciding that he looked fine. He walked over to the elevator before hitting the highest floor and scanning his fingerprint. The elevator door opened, revealing the Avengers floor. Most of the Avengers were there, waiting for the transport to the party. Wanda smiled at Peter as he entered. “Looking good!” Tony appeared from somewhere else in the room. He straightened Peter’s bowtie. “The tux isn’t so bad, is it?”   
“No, it really isn’t.” Peter smiled.  
“Are you excited for the party?” Tony asked him.  
“Yeah.” Peter smiled, trying to cover up his nervousness.   
“And meeting the Wakandan king and princess?”  
“Definitely.” Peter smiled again, this time, a little more honesty behind his eyes. He was very excited to meet the royal family. 

They waited a little longer, everyone appearing from their rooms, and then they all piled into separate cars to ride downtown. The ride was longer than expected, allowing even more time for Peter to freak out over this event. His leg bounced up and down and Tony just assumed it was the boy’s way of controlling his energy. He didn’t, however, notice the look of anxiety pass across Peter as he checked his watch repeatedly. He didn’t notice the kid text his Aunt May, asking her if she had picked up his anxiety meds from the pharmacy. As far as Tony knew, the kid had perfect mental health. And he also didn’t notice the fear in Peter’s face. As they arrived in front of the building, Peter’s worrying increased immediately. A quick check out the window revealed a shit ton of flashing cameras and press. Not only was he likely to be caught on camera, but flashing objects have never been a good idea for someone with heightened senses. The night was already off to a rough start. This was not good. And yet, Tony didn’t notice. 

Peter managed to make it through the cameras without much attention, unlike most of the other Avengers. He waited for at least one of them enter the building, preferably Natasha, Pepper, or Tony. They were the ones he was the most comfortable with. Thankfully, it was only a few minutes before they made it inside. All together, they stepped into the huge ballroom that Tony had rented for the event. Tony introduced him to a few people before Peter slinked off toward the side of the room, doing his best to hide from all of these people who he didn’t know. He sat at a table and began to text Ned. A few minutes later, a waiter came by, offering him an *insert fancy party food of your choice*. He politely declined before returning to his phone. 

Ned: So hows the party  
Peter: Honest or not?  
Ned: Honest  
Peter: I wanna go home. I don’t know like anyone here and I didn’t take my meds this morning  
Ned: Why tf didn’t you take your meds???  
Peter: Would you believe me if I told you I forget?  
Ned: I might’ve but you ruined any chance  
Ned: Why don’t you want to take your meds??  
Peter: Idk, they just make everything feels so foggy  
Ned: But they help, don’t they?   
Peter:........yes  
Ned: SO TAKE YOUR GODDAMN MEDS YOU IDIOT  
Ned: HOW ELSE ARE YOU GOING TO SURVIVE YOUR fRICKING ANXIETY  
Peter: WELL I can’t now sooooo  
Ned: Then tAke THem tOMORROW  
Ned: oR I will make you  
Peter: Fine, fine, I will  
Ned: Now go enjoy your party, it’s not every day that you get to go to a sTARK pARTY  
Peter: But I’d rather text you  
Ned: No  
Ned: Go enjoy your party  
Peter: BUT I DON’T WANNA  
Ned: Goodbye

Sam appeared behind Peter. “Whatcha doing?” He taunted slightly. Peter tried to hide his phone, not wanting to admit he was texting at a party. “Nothing!” He said quickly. “Liar!” Sam hissed, stealing Peter’s phone from him. You’d think that Peter being Spider-man and all, he’d be able to stop Sam, but apparently not. (calling myself out here). Instead, he helplessly attempted to get his phone back, but it was too late, Sam was already reading his text messages. His face changed as he read, he, just like Tony, was unaware that Peter needed meds to deal with all the shit that had happened to him. “Peter, I didn’t know you had anxiety.”   
“Well, that was kind of the point,” Peter muttered.   
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”  
“I told people, just not you.”  
“Does Tony know?”   
“No, he doesn’t, and you better not tell him.”  
“Then you tell him.”  
“No.”  
“Why won’t you tell him, or any one of the Avengers for that matter, you know they all support you.” Sam looked at him questionably.   
“I’m not just another broken kid for them to fix.”   
“That’s not what they think of you.”   
“But it’s what they would think of me, and I don’t need a pity party.”  
“I’m sure that’s not what-” Peter cut him off,  
“I know how it goes. I tell them, they pity me, I lose the only people in my life that view me as normal.”  
“Fine, clearly you’re not going to change your mind.”   
“You can’t tell them!”  
“I won’t. I may think that you’re annoying, but I won’t share your personal information like that. It’s your decision when you want to tell them. But personally, I would. You’ll feel a lot better.” He paused and looked into the young boy's eyes, “Just remember, I am the kind of doctor that helps people deal with this kind of thing, and if you ever need anything, I’m here for you, okay?”  
“Okay.”  
“And this Ned is right, you should take your meds, even if they make everything seem foggy, they’re still important.”   
Peter nodded, trying to get Sam to move on. He hated talking about this almost as much as he hated being at this fancy party. Thankfully, Sam felt satisfied with their conversation and left Peter to stay in the corner, to watch the drama of rich people unfold around him. 

Tony had noticed the boy in the corner, but just before he began to walk toward him, Sam had arrived from somewhere, and Tony figured that Sam could handle Peter on his own, and besides that, the royal family of Wakanda had just arrived. Tony walked over to T’Challa, the only one of them he’d officially met. “Hey, T’Challa!” He gave the man a hug. T’Challa smiled back at him before introducing his sister, Shuri. Tony, of course, had heard of Shuri before, apparently, her talents were in the same fields as him. However, he did not expect the princess to be so young. He figured she would be around her mid-twenties at least, no one that he knew was that smart that young, except maybe Peter. So when Shuri was introduced to him, he did his best to hide his look of surprise at her age. She looked to be about sixteen. The same age as Peter. He wondered if they would bond over science and all the pop culture shit that Tony and the rest of the Avengers just didn’t get. Maybe, just maybe, Shuri understood what “yeet” meant and maybe she could understand all of the references to other things that only Vision could get, seeing as he literally has a connection to the entire internet. They shook hands and T’Challa and Tony began to talk. Before he knew it, Shuri had disappeared from view, going who knows where.

Peter, however, hadn’t noticed the young princess, or that fact that the Wakandans had arrived, instead, he had begun to stare at the wall, focusing on the thoughts racing through his head about his conversation with Sam and the math homework that he hadn’t done yet. And he stayed that way, stuck in his mind until Tony caught everyone’s attention, telling them it was time to eat. Peter removed himself from the table in the corner and headed over to his assigned table, along with Tony, Pepper, T’Challa, and Shuri. The other Avengers were in tables surrounding them. When everyone arrived at their seats, the wait staff brought around the *insert fancy dish here*. Peter looked down at his plate. He was definitely not hungry. His appetite had disappeared whenever they got here, and all he could feel were his insides churning. As others began to eat, he did his best to attempt the same. He cut his food into smaller pieces, taking a bite every so often. It seemed as though he was getting away with his maneuver, that was until he realized that someone was watching him. It wasn’t Tony or Pepper, it was the princess, sitting right across from him. She watched him quietly, a slight look of interest in her eyes. Who was this boy and what was up with the way he was eating, or trying not to? Peter stared back at her, but not for long because Tony noticed the looks passing between the two. He quickly realized that they hadn’t been introduced to each other. “Ahhh, Peter, I forgot to introduce you to T’Challa and Shuri.” Tony started. “N-nice to meet you.” Peter stuttered out. “And it is nice to meet you as well.” T’Challa returned. Shuri gave him a small smile. 

<><><><><><><><><>time skip cause i’m lazy<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

The rest of dinner passed without much incident. Pepper noticed Peter’s lack of eating, but he just wrote it off as eating too much beforehand. She didn’t take the excuse but she let it rest. Now, Peter was sitting in his corner again. He wanted to text Ned again but he figured that Ned would purposely not respond. He wanted Peter to have fun tonight after all. He pulled out his phone anyway. However, he didn’t text Ned, rather, he decided to play a game of Sudoku. Doing things with numbers always seemed to calm him down. He got about three-fourths of the way through the puzzle before the princess sat down next to him. “What’s a guy like you doing in a corner like this?” She joked.   
“Hiding,” Peter responded.  
“From what?”   
“Everything,”   
“That sounds like fun. Mind if I join you?”   
“Nope.”  
They sat there for a moment, Peter breathing in the silence, grateful for the freedom that it brought, Shuri, doing the exact opposite. She had found that silence was not a good thing. Silence was what accompanied the death of her father and with the radio silence that her brother had given when he went after the man who killed T’Chaka.   
“So, how does a kid like you end up hanging around the Tony Stark?” She asked, breaking the silence she so hated.   
“W-well…” Peter stuttered out. He wasn’t sure what he could say without accidentally revealing his identity in the process.  
“I applied for an internship and Mr. Stark took a liking to my particular skill set.” Peter finished, only partially lying. Tony did take a liking to his particular skill set, just not exactly what he hinted at. And he had applied for an internship, but only to cover up for his connection to Tony through being Spider-Man. But Shuri could tell he was lying.  
“Bullshit.” She looked over at him. “I did a little research into you, you know. My brother told me that you’d be here and I was curious.” She activated her kimoyo beads. “Peter Parker,” she started, reading the file she’d collected on him on her plane ride here. “Born August 10, 2001. Lost your parents when you were four, and lived with your aunt and uncle. Your uncle died more recently. Your academic decathlon team made nationals last year a few months after you got the Stark internship. Around the same time you met Mr. Stark, Spider-Man got a nice new suit, and my brother said that Spider-Man was at the airport battle, just two days after Peter Parker met Mr. Tony Stark.”  
“What are you saying?”  
“You know what I’m saying.” Shuri looked at Peter. “Spider-Man.”   
“That’s not- I’m not- what are you talking about?” Peter floundered.   
“Don’t even try to deny it. Only a fool would think that you aren’t Spider-Man.”   
“You’re calling almost everyone I know a fool then,” Peter uttered, barely audible.   
“Yes, I am.”   
Peter sighed.   
“So you admit that you’re Spider-Man?”   
“N-no!” Peter did his best but had almost given up already. Not only was she too convinced, she was right. “Liar!” She responded gleefully.   
“Fine, I’m Spider-Man. You happy?”   
“Very,” Shuri smirked. “Now you wanna explain to me why you were trying not to eat at dinner?”   
“I just wasn’t hungry.” Peter tried shrugging it off.   
“Really? A guy with your metabolism wasn’t hungry? I somehow find that hard to believe.”   
“I wasn’t!”   
“Did you know that cutting your food into smaller pieces and moving it around are signs of possible anorexia?” She questioned.   
“That is not what happened!”   
“I didn’t say that it was!” She looked closer at the boy. “But you got awfully defensive, awfully fast. I’m allowed to wonder why that is.”   
“I just don’t like to be accused of things I’m not.”  
“I don’t agree with that, but I’ll let it slide.”   
“Why are you asking me all these questions if you’ve already gaged your own opinions about all of this shit?”   
“I’m curious.”   
“A little too curious if you ask me,” Peter muttered smartassily(I know that’s not a word).   
“Well, I do have one more question for you to skirt and for me to share my premeditated opinions.”   
“Fine, you can ask it, but only because I know you will anyway.”   
“What’re you doing, sitting in the corner at a Stark party? Shouldn’t you be out, socializing?”   
“I don’t like people very much.”   
“But that’s not all of it, is it?”   
“It’s enough of it,” Peter responded. He felt that this girl had already learned enough about him, enough that he didn’t necessarily want her to know. She didn’t need to know about his anxiety, particularly his social anxiety.   
“Fair enough,” Shuri said, mostly satisfied with the information she had gained from the teenager. They sat in silence for another minute. Peter taking it in, Shuri trying to. It was clear to her that Peter enjoyed the silence and she knew that she had violated him enough. She had been on the internet, she knew signs of anxiety, and she knew, more than anything, that it was real, unlike many other people in the world. Maybe being in a younger generation affected her views of the world. But she could only take the silence for so long.   
“What are we still doing here?” She asked.   
Peter looked at her, confusion passing through his eyes.   
She went on, “I mean, I have no reason to be here and you, most definitely don’t want to be here. So what are we still doing here?”   
“Because even if I don’t want to be here and you don’t have any personal reason to be here, I have to be here for Tony and for Pepper, and you need to be here for T’Challa. They’re the ones that we’re here for, no matter how much we don’t want to be here.”  
“Wow,” Shuri said, a genuine look of shock on her face, if only for a brief second. She hadn’t realized how much care the boy had in his heart, not for himself, but for other people. She was sure that he didn’t have much care for himself. 

She thought for a little longer. “What if it’s not about them?” She asked. Curious as to how the boy who cared would respond. “I don’t know.” Is all he could respond with. Peter didn’t quite know. He was always quick to think of everyone else in the room. How was he supposed to focus on himself when there were so many other people who were just as, if not more important. “Let’s just say, hypothetically, you didn’t have to be here right now. What would you do?” She asked.   
“I don’t know…” He paused for a moment, “I guess I’d go to the ice cream shop a few blocks over.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah, I’ve gone to that place since I was a kid. My Aunt May takes me there any time either of us just needs a break. I always get one scoop of cookie dough and one scoop of mint chip. She gets a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of cookie dough.” Peter smiled a little at the thought. It made Shuri smile a little too. She’d seen him smile a little before, but it was nothing like the grin he had now.   
“So why don’t we just go?”  
“What? No- we can’t, we can’t just leave.”   
“Yeah, we can.”  
Peter looked away.  
“Come on, it’ll be fun. Besides we are technically teenagers and teenagers are notoriously rebellious.”  
“So what? Just because some teenagers are rebellious doesn’t mean that we have to be.”   
“Ugh, you sound like my mother.”  
“I doubt that’s a bad thing, I’m sure your mother is a very kind woman.”   
“Come on, let’s just go!” Shuri stood up.  
“No!” Peter stayed, planted firmly in his seat.   
“I will not hesitate to make you!” She giggled a little.  
“Ugh, okay.” Peter gave in, he knew she wasn’t lying. She grabbed Peter’s hand before leading him towards the exit.   
“I’m going to assume you’ve never partaken in ‘rebellious teenager’ acts before.”  
“You assume correctly. Unless you count not telling your parental guardian you’re a superhero.”   
“No that doesn’t count. Anyway, the first thing we gotta accomplish is sneaking out.” She brought her voice down to a whisper. “We’ll sneak down that hallway, and if anyone asks, we’re looking for the bathroom.” She giggled some more, this was going to be fun. They traced the outline of the room, pretending to tiptoe.   
They made it about three-fourths of the way there before Peter saw Natasha staring at him. He stopped, standing there frozen. Shuri jerked back a second after she noticed he had stopped. “What?” She whisper yelled. Peter did his best to point out Natasha without too much attention to no avail. Shuri looked over at Natasha. Natasha stared at them for another moment before deciding to let them go. She gave the teens a smile and a wink before returning to whatever she had been doing before. They laughed a little, gleefully following the rest of the path towards the exit to the giant ballroom. Shuri led Peter down the hallway, and of course, they just had to run into the star-spangled grandpa.   
“Just where do you think you’re going?” He questioned, wiping the smug look off of the children’s faces.  
“Um-” Peter started.  
“Looking for the restroom.” Shuri stepped in from of the stuttering boy, confidence flaring in her voice.   
“Really?”   
“Uh-huh,” Shuri said, her confidence still at least three times as much as Peter’s had been in a very long time.   
“Okay,” Steve replied, still unsure of them. Shuri gave him a huge smile before dragging Peter along behind her. Peter gave Steve a quick shrug before letting himself drag along behind the princess. She pulled him towards the front door as Steve walked back towards the ballroom. Shuri opened the front door, allowing Peter to exit the building first. He stepped onto the front step. He let the cool air envelop him as he readjusted to the outdoor environment. Shuri followed suit. “So, where’s this ice cream shop that you mentioned?” She asked. “This way,” Peter stated as he began to walk down the sidewalk. She followed him, having a little trouble keeping up with the length of his stride. It didn’t take much time for them to arrive right outside of the ice cream shop. “This is-”   
“Smaller than you expected?”   
“Well, I mean...”  
“Not everyone grew up a princess, Shuri,” Peter said.  
“I mean it’s still great and stuff, though it is smaller than I expected.” Shuri smiled, hoping that he wasn’t actually mad.   
“C’mon, let’s go,” Peter said, heading for the front door. Shuri followed behind him. He headed up to the counter. “Oh hey, Peter! It’s been a while hasn’t it?”   
“Yes, Mr. Wilson!” Peter smiled at the man.   
“How’s your Aunt May?”   
“Oh, she’s doing well. Had to take a few more shifts at the hospital, but we’re good.”   
“Aww, well tell her I say hello.”  
“I will.” Peter smiled at the man.   
“What’s with the tux?”   
“A fancy party we ditched.”   
“Wow, that sounds nothing like you at all.”  
“No, it doesn’t.”   
“And who is this fine young lady that you’ve brought with you?”  
“This is Prin-”  
Shuri interrupted him, “Just Shuri.” Mr. Wilson looked at them for a moment with confusion.  
“Well it’s nice to meet you, Shuri, I cannot believe you got Peter to ditch anything.”   
“I can’t believe it either,” Peter muttered.   
“I feel like I recognize you from somewhere.” Mr. Wilson said, looking at Shuri. She sighed a little, she had hoped she could visit this one place without being recognized.   
“Maybe because she’s a princess,” Peter muttered again, his muttering game was strong today.   
“Ahh, yes, the Princess of Wakanda, I saw you last week on the television.”  
Shuri sighed, “Yeah.”   
Some people came into the shop so Mr. Wilson decided to move it along.   
“I assume you want the usual.”   
“You assume correctly.”  
Shuri watched the two in some form of awe. Nothing like this ever really happened in Wakanda. The Dora Milaje was always worried way too much over the safety of the royal family. She never had opportunities to meet and become friendly with the other people around her.   
“And for the lady?” He asked.   
Shuri scanned the menu quickly. “I’ll have a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of vanilla.” She said. “Something simple I see.” Shuri smiled. “Yes, I’m still learning about these American foods so I like to keep it simple.” 

Mr. Wilson returned the smile before getting to work scooping the ice cream into the respective bowls. Peter and Shuri followed down the case of ice cream until they reached the register. Peter pulled out a ten dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to the man behind the counter. He handed them their ice cream and returned the change. Shuri followed Peter towards a booth in the corner, right next to a window. Peter slide into the booth and Shuri sat down across from him. He immediately stuffed his mouth with a huge spoonful of mint chip. Shuri took a smaller amount with her spoon. “So you were hungry.” She said, just a little smugly. “Yeah, I guess I was,” Peter said, hoping she wouldn’t stay on the subject for too long. They ate in silence for a few moments before they began talking. Shuri asked Peter about his school, his life, she was partially curious about him, but also of the American culture. She listened as he explained to her how his school system worked. He finished telling her what a GPA was before looking down at his ice cream. He felt like he was talking so much it was annoying. Of course, he often felt this way, but it didn’t make him feel any more justified. He decided the best way to not talk was to ask her questions. He, in turn, asked her about her life, curious about how Wakanda was different from America.   
They had long finished their sweet treat when Peter decided to check his phone. The first thing he saw was the time. It had been over two hours since they had ditched the party. The second thing he saw was the nine missed calls he had from Tony and the three from Pepper. “Crap!” He cried.  
“What?” Shuri asked, concerned.  
“I am in so much trouble.” He groaned.  
“Oh, really? That’s what you’re worried about?”  
“Yeah! Mr. Stark called me nine times!”  
“Ha! That’s half as many times as my mother called me when I skipped out on the last meeting I was supposed to attend.”   
“So what? I have never done something like this before! That means extra trouble!”   
“You’ll be fine!”   
“No, I won’t! We really need to get back!” Peter cried.  
“Fine, we can go back to the tower.”   
“What about the party?”   
“I’m sure they’re home by now, and even if they aren’t, it’s not like you wanna go back anyway.”  
“Fair enough.”   
They got up from the booth and Peter waved to Mr. Wilson on their way out. “How far is the tower from here?” Shuri asked. “Just a couple of miles,” Peter replied casually.   
“A couple of miles? How are we supposed to make it within a decent time frame?”   
“I was thinking we could swing across the city.”  
“How? I don’t have frickin’ spider powers.”   
“Just hop on my back.”   
“O-okay,” Shuri said, a little unsure. Peter led her to an alley where he switched his tux for his suit. “C’mon, let’s go,” Peter said as he picked her up. He attached a web to the tall building just above. They swung across the city, arriving at the tower in a matter of minutes. Peter climbed up the side of the building, hoping no one would see them. He slid the window to his room open before letting Shuri climb off of his back and into the building. He followed her into the room before sliding his window closed behind him. He was thankful that he had closed his door on the way out of it before the party. “Oh, I am never doing that again,” Shuri said, trying to catch her breath. “What, is the princess afraid of heights?” Peter teased. “N-no.” Shuri said, “Okay, maybe a little.” She admitted. Peter laughed a little, glad that he wasn’t the only one with apparent weaknesses. He turned the light on in his room without realizing how easy it would be for anyone on the outside to see the sudden light in the room. That was the fatal mistake. It only took a few seconds for Tony to open the door, some anger in his step. “Where the hell have you been?” He practically yelled at the frozen teens.   
“Umm…” Peter started.   
T’Challa appeared in the doorway to yell at his sister.  
“Shuri, please explain how you corrupted this young boy,” T’Challa said, deadly calm. Tony looked over at the man, confused at how he could be so calm about something like this. “I did not corrupt him! I simply suggested that we went to a place where both of us felt less out of place.”   
“And where was that?” T’Challa asked, still extremely calm.  
At this point, Peter decided to speak up, “Mr. Wilson’s Ice Cream Shop.” He perked up.  
“The one you always go to with May?” Tony asked.   
“Yup,” Peter replied.  
“Well, I called Aunt May, you’re grounded.”  
Peter sighed.  
“Of course I am.” He muttered, his muttering game even stronger.  
“Don’t sass me!”  
“And Mother was not too happy to hear about this either.” T’Challa cut in.   
“Well, she can deal with it how she wants,” Shuri said, smiling. Peter couldn’t understand how she could be so nonchalant about this whole ordeal. There was so much about this girl that he didn’t understand. “Well, did you have fun at least?” Tony asked.   
“Yeah, we had fun,” Peter replied, smiling at his newfound friend.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that some of it isn't the best and it turned out wayyyyy longer than I originally intended, but it's not horrible(at least I don't think so).


End file.
